FEEDING YOUR PASSIONS WITH PODCASTS AND MORE

I never really got into the original Devil May Cry series. I
played a majority of the first game and a little bit of the 3rd and
4th ones, but it always seemed as though the series was a
fairly good one; I was just involved with other games at the time. Apparently,
Capcom felt the need to reboot the franchise, so they contracted UK developer
Ninja Theory to handle the reset. Previously an action/puzzle solving hybrid,
DmC (No, that doesn’t stand for DeLorean Motor Company) strips away most of the
puzzle elements and relies on straight-up, over the top, demon-slaying action.

Differences between the PC and console versions:
I played the PS3 demo and downloaded the PC version on Steam a few hours later.
The demo may not be indicative of the finished PS3 game, but what I played was
pretty close to the PC version for the most part. The game runs at around 60
fps even on the console, but the PC version benefits from higher resolution,
better lighting effects, and other various optimized features. No matter what
platform (Xbox 360, PS3, PC) you choose for DmC, it’s going to look fantastic;
although the PC version does contain advantages.

Breakdown:

Dante speaks with "Kat," the mysterious guy's personal witch.

Story: 10/10
DmC tells the story of Dante, a half angel, half-demon hybrid who must travel
back and forth between the real world and what the game calls “limbo.” Dante is
enlisted by a mysterious stranger and his assistant/witch to help fight back
demons that are trying to force themselves into our world. Dante also wishes to
exact revenge upon the demon king Mundus who killed his demon father and angel
mother. The story may sound extremely simple, but that’s because it is. DmC,
with its highly-steeped Christian mythology, never tries to take a religious
standpoint of any kind and keeps things unquestionably fictional and easy to follow.

The things that can happen in Limbo.

Visuals: 10/10
Every bit of this game is gorgeous. The real world and Limbo have distinct
visual styles apart from Limbo just looking “really messed up.” The real world
looks a bit grittier, while Limbo has very saturated colors and truly looks
otherworldly. One thing in particular that stands out is the character models
and their facial motion capturing. Developers are really getting good at this
technique and DmC is no exception. Facial expressions are very well captured
and the character models look more like actual actors and less like CG dolls
whose mouths kind of match their words.
Animations are extremely fluid, lighting is great and the overall look of the
game is pure eye-candy.

Beatin' down some demons at the beginning of the game.

Sound: 9/10
All of the slashing, shooting, and bone crunching is all accompanied by some
mostly great music. I’m not too fond of dubstep, but its use here fits the
game’s situations rather well. I much more prefer the metal-style tracks during
combat. Every time Dante engages in combat, the metal starts and you can’t help
but feel pumped up as you play. The reason I have to dock it a point here, and
this may be more of a writing thing, is because of the excessive cursing
used throughout the game. Cursing isn’t something that bothers me, but its use
here is, a lot of the time, unnecessary and downright corny. That being said,
the voice acting is fantastic and some of the best I’ve ever heard in a game.
Coupled with the facial capturing, the characters feel more alive than in most
titles.

Bosses are usually on the 'large' side.

Gameplay: 8.9/10
There is no way that you could play this game and not have fun. Whether you
want to “button-mash,” or actually learn the combos and various moves, there’s
mass fun to be had here. You can’t help but feel awesome as the game informs
you that you’ve taken out a crowd of enemies and achieved an “SSS” ranking.
These rankings reward you with points which you can spend on upgrades for your
arsenal, or more moves and powers. I did, however, feel that some of the moves
were a bit unnecessary. Usually, you’ll only need a few key moves in order to
progress throughout the game, but these extra abilities do add to the visual appeal and overall awesomeness of combat.
The boss battles are excellent. They’re not terribly difficult, but unlike most
bosses in games which are strictly difficult, these are actually a joy to play.
Most involve not only hacking at whatever huge demon you’re up against, but
using platforming elements to avoid their various attacks.
The only real complaint I have with the gameplay is that it can be a little
repetitive during the game’s final levels… and I’m talking like, maybe the last
2 or 3.

Controls: 10/10
Like the overall gameplay, the controls are fluid, yet relatively simple.
Combos are easy and you’ll be demon slaying like a pro in no time. As you
progress, you gain more and more abilities, but the game eases you into them
gradually rather than unloading all at once. By the end of the game, you’ll be
taking out swarms of enemies as if it were second nature.

Dante says, "Don't buy this game for children. I curse alot."

Other than Portal 2, DmC may be one of the best games I’ve
played in quite some time. Normally, I’m not that big a fan of “beat-em up”
style games, but this one transcends all of the clichés associated with the
genre. Is it worth $60? Definitely. No question about it. This is a must-have
game for any gamer. Only keep it away from the kids; There’s a reason it’s
rated ‘M’ for mature.